Autonomous shuttles in Punggol

Autonomous shuttles in Punggol
An Ai.R autonomous shuttle being displayed at a roadshow at the Punggol Digital District.
An Ai.R autonomous shuttle being displayed at a roadshow at the Punggol Digital District.
Overview
Area servedPunggol, Singapore
LocaleSingapore
Transit typeAutonomous shuttle
Number of lines3
Line numberRoute 1, Route 2 Lite, Route 2, Route 3 Mini, Route 3
Operation
Began operation1 April 2026 (Grab) / 22 June 2026 (ComfortDelGro)
Operator(s)
  • ComfortDelGro and Pony.ai (Zig Driverless)
  • Grab and WeRide (Ai.R)
Number of vehicles16

The autonomous shuttle trial in Punggol, Singapore, is run by two main operators. Autonomously Intelligent Ride (Ai.R), operated by Grab and WeRide, runs Routes 1, 3, and 3 Mini. Zig Driverless, operated by ComfortDelGro (CDG) and Pony.ai, runs Route 2 and its shorter variant, Route 2 Lite. The trial began route familiarisation in 2025 before commencing passenger-carrying rides in 2026.[1] There are plans to eventually expand the autonomous service to other areas in Singapore.

Background

Autonomous public transport has been trialled and deployed in different areas of Singapore. Robobus, an autonomous shuttle service operated by WeRide, began operations in June 2024 at Resorts World Sentosa. Human operators, previously present on the service for safety reasons, were removed in July 2025.[2][3] Trials for autonomous bus services have been conducted in one-north, Marina Bay, and Shenton Way.[4][5]

On 4 February 2016, plans were announced in the Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) 2040 to deploy autonomous buses in Punggol, Tengah, and the Jurong Innovation District, as part of a pilot programme.[6] In 2019, the deployment of the autonomous vehicles (AVs) was confirmed to take place in the early 2020s.[7]

History

In June 2025, Acting Minister of Transport Jeffrey Siow, as well as Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Transport Sun Xueling, also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC), went on a two-day visit to Guangzhou, China. During the visit, they visited autonomous vehicle companies, including WeRide, the Guangzhou Public Transport Group, Pony.ai, and DiDi.[8][9][10][11] On 27 June 2025, they stated plans to begin trialling the autonomous shuttles in Punggol in the fourth quarter of 2025.[9][11]

In September 2025, Grab was selected as the operator for two autonomous shuttle routes in Punggol.[12] Grab and ComfortDelGro also partnered with the Chinese autonomous vehicle companies, WeRide and Pony.ai, respectively, to begin autonomous shuttle services in Singapore in early 2026.[12] Trials for the new shuttle services also began on the same month.[13] During this trial period, the shuttles completed over 25,000 km of autonomous testing.[14]

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) subsequently gave approval to Grab and WeRide to test 11 shuttles on two routes.[15] The first AV testing was conducted in mid-October 2025.[15][16][17]

On 12 January 2026, by-invite community rides[a] of the shuttles operated by Grab and WeRide began.[14][18][21] Invitees included members of grassroots organisations,[20] and winners of the SG60 lucky draw.[21][22] During these trials, a safety operator would be in the vehicle at all times.[23][24] According to the LTA, about 740 people had ridden on the autonomous shuttles during this period by 4 March 2026.[25][14] All passengers would be insured in case of an accident.[26][27]

On 17 January 2026 at around 3.10pm, an autonomous shuttle operated by CDG undergoing testing collided with a road divider in Edgedale Plains, Punggol. As a result, the autonomous vehicles operated by CDG had a safety timeout during the investigation of the incident.[28][29] The LTA later stated that the incident was caused by human intervention of the safety officer on board the vehicle. Investigations showed that the incident would not have occurred if there had been no manual intervention.[30][31] No passengers were on board the shuttle when the incident happened, and no injuries were reported.[29][28][32][33] As a result of this incident, CDG and LTA reviewed the operating procedures for transitions between autonomous and manual driving.[29]

On 4 March 2026, Jeffrey Siow announced that two routes of the autonomous shuttle services would be available to the public on 1 April 2026. A third route to be operated by ComfortDelGro was also stated to be in development. Plans were also announced to begin trials in other regions of Singapore, such as Sentosa, Tuas, and Mandai, if the rollout of shuttle services in Punggol is considered to be successful.[13][34][35]

Registrations for the service operated by Grab and WeRide began on 25 March 2026.[25][36][35]

On 1 April 2026, routes 1 and 3 of the autonomous shuttle opened to the public, alongside an express variant of route 3 called 3 mini.[36][37][38] The service was made free-of-charge initially for a limited period of time. It was planned that the shuttle services would have a flat fare of S$4 starting in mid-2026.[13][36]

On 7 April 2026, Pony.ai announced that they had received regulatory approval to begin by-invite community rides of the autonomous shuttles in partnership with CDG.[39][40][30] Invitees included residents of Punggol.[39] Trained safety operators remained in the vehicles during trials.[40] Invitees can choose between two CDG routes. One route is a 12 km long loop, which has 7 stops, and takes about an hour to complete. The second route is a shortened variant of the same loop, and takes about 30 minutes to complete. The trials are free-of-charge.[41]

On 19 June 2026, LTA announced that Route 2 Lite, a 25-minute route serving three stops operated by CDG would be open to the public, and free-of-charge from 22 June. It was also announced that Route 2, a longer 50-minute route would begin operations in July.[42][43]

On 22 June 2026, Route 2 Lite, a shortened version of ComfortDelGro's autonomous shuttle loop, began operations free of charge.[44] This was followed by the launch of the full seven-stop Route 2 service on 1 July 2026.[44] Branded as "Zig Driverless", it is the transport operator's second global autonomous public service, following a robotaxi pilot in Guangzhou, China.[45] Passengers can book rides through the CDG Zig app or the BookingSG platform.[45]

On 29 July 2026, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Grab announced a pilot program for on-demand autonomous vehicle (AV) services in Punggol.[46] Moving away from fixed-route shuttle loops, the pilot allows passengers to book dedicated AVs that travel via direct routes between selected pick-up and drop-off points.[47] This shift was introduced following LTA post-ride surveys. Among around 270 Punggol resident responses, almost 60% preferred choosing their boarding and alighting locations, while approximately 40% favoured direct routing to their destinations.[48][47] The on-demand pilot was scheduled to open initially to trial riders before becoming available to the general public in the fourth quarter of 2026.[47] This Q4 expansion marks the start of commercial fares, which had been delayed from their original mid-2026 launch date.[47] During the pilot phase, Grab's existing fixed-route shuttle services continue to operate free of charge alongside the on-demand service.[49]

Operations

Routes

The Punggol autonomous shuttle network consists of three main fixed loop routes connecting residential blocks to amenities, including the Punggol Coast MRT station and Oasis Terraces. During the public trial phase, Ai.R (Grab and WeRide) operates primarily on weekdays between 9.30am and 5pm. Zig Driverless (CDG and Pony.ai) operates from Mon to Sun between 9.30am and 5pm, with Mondays and Fridays reserved for special assistance and group bookings.

Routes 1, 3, and 3 Mini, operated by Ai.R, and Routes 2, and 2 Lite, operated by Zig Driverless are in service.[36][50] All shuttle routes are loop services.[37]

Punggol Autonomous shuttle Routes[19]
RouteOperatorVariantDistance / TimeBooking methodVehicleStops
Route 1[19] Grab & WeRide (Ai.R) Full Loop 10 km Walk-up boarding (No reservation needed, check app for arrival time) WeRide GXR (5-seater) Matilda Court (Blk 234), Punggol Clover (Blk 204A), Punggol Plaza, Oasis Terraces
Route 2[51] ComfortDelGro & Pony.ai (Zig Driverless) Route 2 Lite 25 mins Booking required (CDG Zig App) / Special Assistance or Group Booking on Zig Driverless website Toyota Sienna (4-seater) Northshore Plaza II (Blk 420A), Punggol Coast Mall (Bus Interchange), One Punggol (Sam Kee LRT Station)
Full Loop 12 km (50 mins) Punggol Plaza, Waterway Sunrise I (Blk 656A), Waterway Sunrise II (Blk 653C), One Punggol (Sam Kee LRT Station), Northshore Plaza II (Blk 420A), Punggol Coast Mall (Bus Interchange), Oasis Terraces
Route 3[19] Grab & WeRide (Ai.R) Full Loop 12 km Walk-up boarding (No reservation needed, check app for arrival time) WeRide GXR & Robobus Matilda Court (Blk 234), Punggol Clover (Blk 204A), One Punggol (Sam Kee LRT Station), Northshore Plaza II (Blk 420A), Punggol Coast Mall (Bus Interchange)
Route 3 Mini[52] 20 mins Walk-up boarding (No reservation needed, check app for arrival time) WeRide GXR (5-seater) Punggol Coast Mall (Bus Interchange), One Punggol (Sam Kee LRT Station), Northshore Plaza II (Blk 420A)

Fleet

As of April 2026, Ai.R (Grab and WeRide) operates with a fleet of 11 autonomous vehicles.[36][38] 10 of the vehicles are five-seater WeRide GXR electric vehicles, while 1 is an eight-seater robobus.[36][20] The vehicles have a bright purple livery, and an amber beacon on the roof.[15] All used vehicles had passed Singapore's Milestone 1 (M1) assessment.[22][53][54]

The vehicles are able to use cameras and lidar to detect objects up to 200 metres in all directions,[53][22] including in heavy rain.[55][22] They are trained to adhere to Singaporean traffic laws.[22][55]

Ridership

As of 12 July 2026, more than 11,500 unique riders had taken the autonomous shuttle services in Punggol.[46][48]


See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A phase where selected stakeholders are invited to experience the service for free before it opens to the public,[18] designed to gather data based on passenger feedback.[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ "Grab to roll out Ai.R autonomous shuttle service in Punggol". Singapore Business Review. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  2. ↑ "WeRide Launches Southeast Asia's First Fully Driverless Robobus Operations at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore". ir.weride.ai. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "Singapore Launches Autonomous Shuttle Service, WeRide Robobus Becomes a New Attraction at Resorts World Sentosa". PR Newswire APAC. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Lay, Belmont (27 January 2025). "Self-driving public buses to be tested at Marina Bay, Shenton Way & one-north". mothership.sg. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Self-driving buses to be tested from mid-2026 on public bus routes around Marina Bay, one-north". The Business Times. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) 2040" (PDF). LTA. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "LTA Annual report 2019/20" (PDF). LTA. 12 April 2026. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "Singapore's Acting Minister for Transport Visits WeRide Headquarters to Advance Cooperation on Autonomous Mobility". ir.weride.ai. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  9. 1 2 Yow, Daphne (29 June 2025). "Singapore to trial autonomous vehicles in Punggol from fourth quarter of 2025". CNA. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  10. ↑ Kok, Yufeng (29 June 2025). "New jobs will emerge with transition to autonomous vehicles: Acting Transport Minister". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  11. 1 2 Kok, Yufeng (29 June 2025). "Self-driving public shuttles to hit Punggol roads by fourth quarter". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  12. 1 2 Rauhala, Emily (20 September 2025). "Two robotaxi groups flag services in Singapore". Reuters. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 Ong Guang-Xi, Justin (4 March 2026). "Self-driving vehicles in Punggol to open to public from Apr 1". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "LTA | Autonomous Shuttle Services in Punggol Open for Public Rides from 1 April 2026". www.lta.gov.sg. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  15. 1 2 3 Shelvan, Vanessa Paige (7 January 2026). "First self-driving shuttle vehicles in Punggol to start serving public within 3 months". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "WeRide and Grab Achieve First Autonomous Vehicle Testing in Singapore's Punggol District | Grab SG". Grab. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Jean, Joby (12 January 2026). "First self-driving shuttle route in Punggol to open by March 2026". Tech Edition. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  18. 1 2 Lim, Lionel (12 January 2026). "Grab gets approval to test its autonomous vehicle services with the public in Singapore". The Business Times. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "New Autonomous Shuttle Services to be Progressively Deployed in Punggol". LTA. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  20. 1 2 3 Lee, Nian Tjoe (12 January 2026). "Punggol residents to try out driverless shuttle service from Jan 12". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Grab to roll out Ai.R autonomous shuttle service in Punggol". Singapore Business Review. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "WeRide to Launch GXRs and Robobus in Singapore as part of Grab's New Ai.R Autonomous Service". ir.weride.ai. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  23. ↑ Kok, Yufeng (20 September 2025). "First self-driving shuttles launched in Punggol; passenger service to start in 2026". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  24. ↑ "Inside Punggol's Autonomous Shuttle Trial: A First-Hand Look from LKYCIC". Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). 27 January 2026. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  25. 1 2 Loi, Esther (4 March 2026). "Punggol self-driving shuttles open to public from April 1". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "First self-driving shuttle vehicles in Punggol to start serving public within three months". The Star. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "First self-driving shuttle vehicles in Punggol to start serving public within 3 months". British Chamber Of Commerce Singapore. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  28. 1 2 Wong, Man Shun (19 January 2026). "LTA findings on autonomous vehicle accident in Punggol to be shared with public: Sun Xueling". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  29. 1 2 3 Al Anthony, Darcel (29 January 2026). "Punggol self-driving car accident a result of manual intervention by on-board safety officer: LTA". CNA. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  30. 1 2 Lau, Jean (12 April 2026). "Singapore's robotaxi drive revs up with help from Chinese AV leaders". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  31. ↑ Wong, Man Shun (19 January 2026). "LTA findings on autonomous vehicle accident in Punggol to be shared with public: Sun Xueling". Yahoo News. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  32. ↑ "Managing Teething Issues of Autonomous Vehicle Shuttle Implementation in Punggol". Ministry of Transport. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  33. ↑ Wu, Xueting (18 January 2026). "Self-driving shuttle hits road divider in Punggol while doing road tests, no passengers on board". mothership.sg. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  34. ↑ Htet, Khine Zin (4 March 2026). "Free autonomous shuttle services in Punggol open to public from Apr. 1, 2026". Mothership. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  35. 1 2 "Punggol self-driving shuttles open to public for free in Singapore from April 1". The Star. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lim, Kewei (1 April 2026). "Punggol's first self-driving shuttle service officially opens to the public". AsiaOne. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  37. 1 2 Bathan, Aiah (29 March 2026). "Self-drive shuttle service available is now open for registration starting in April". The Independent. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  38. 1 2 Ngo, Phong (4 April 2026). "Grab launches robotaxi service in Singapore". VnExpress International. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  39. 1 2 Monika (8 April 2026). "Pony.ai launches Robotaxi service in Singapore with ComfortDelGro". Gasgoo Auto News. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  40. 1 2 Cuthbert, Heidi (7 April 2026). "Pony.ai wins approval for by-invite rides in Singapore". grafa.com. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  41. ↑ Lee, Nian Tjoe (7 April 2026). "ComfortDelGro rolls out invitational rides on its autonomous shuttle service in Punggol". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  42. ↑ Lee, Nian Tjoe (19 June 2026). "Free driverless shuttle rides by ComfortDelGro". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  43. ↑ "Zig Driverless - ComfortDelGroTaxi". cdgtaxi.com.sg. 4 July 2026. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  44. 1 2 Hamzah, Aqil (22 June 2026). "Free rides on ComfortDelGro AV shuttles kick off in Punggol". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  45. 1 2 "ComfortDelGro Advances Global AV Push with Zig Driverless Launch in Punggol". ComfortDelGro. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  46. 1 2 "Service Enhancements to Autonomous Shuttle Services in Punggol". Land Transport Authority. 29 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  47. 1 2 3 4 "Revenue service for Punggol self-driving shuttles delayed to Q4; Grab to test on-demand rides". The Straits Times. 29 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  48. 1 2 Kuek, Renee (29 July 2026). "Grab to pilot on-demand autonomous vehicle service in Punggol". CNA. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  49. ↑ "Grab set to pilot on-demand autonomous vehicle service in Punggol, advancing regional hybrid mobility strategy". Grab. 29 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  50. ↑ Hsiao, Jingyue (8 April 2026). "Singapore's first robotaxi enters public service, signaling a new phase for autonomous mobility". DigiTimes Asia. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  51. ↑ Lee, Nian Tjoe (19 June 2026). "Free ComfortDelGro driverless shuttle rides open to the public from June 22". The Straits Times. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  52. ↑ "RideAir Ai.R". RideAir.ai. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  53. 1 2 Chia, Ben (28 September 2025). "We take a look at how LTA tests autonomous vehicles before deployment on Singapore's roads". AsiaOne. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  54. ↑ Zaid Shirbeeni, A’bidah (22 September 2025). "Punggol goes driverless as Grab rolls out self-driving shuttles". Marketing-Interactive. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  55. 1 2 "Grab, WeRide team up to launch autonomous vehicle service in Singapore". TNGlobal. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
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